Kirk Kerkorian: The Building of an Empire

Kirk Kerkorian is a Las Vegas godfather and billionaire who
has at various times been called "the smiling cobra," "Rifle
Right Kerkorian," and "the father of the megaresort." His
involvement in Las Vegas dates back to the 1950s, and on three
separate occasions he has constructed the largest casino
resort in the world.

Kirk is the president and CEO of the Tracinda Corporation,
which is his private investment firm. He is the Chairman
emeritus of MGM International and is widely regarded as one of
the most influential figures in developing Las Vegas as we know
it today.

Early Life

Kirk Kerkorian was born in 1917 to Armenian immigrants in
California. He left school in the 8th grade so he could help his
father haul produce. From there, Kirk went on to become a
successful amateur boxer, amassing a record of 29-4 and earning
the nickname "Rifle Right Kerkorian" on his way to winning the
Pacific amateur welterweight championship.

Later, Kerkorian met a friend who was training to be a pilot.
Kerkorian took a ride with his friend on a flight and
immediately fell in love with aviation. Kerkorian then decided
to take his own private lessons under a woman in return for
looking after her cattle.

Kerkorian became a skilled pilot and eventually moved on to
training commercial airline pilots. During WWII, he joined the
Royal Canadian Air Force and started earning his first serious
money. At the time, Canada was delivering airplanes to Scotland
via a dangerous route in which 1 out of 4 pilots were forced to
ditch their planes. He took the job, however, because it paid $1,000
per trip.

Two and a half years later the War ended and Kerkorian used
his substantial savings to purchase his own Cessna for $5,000.
He made his first visit to Las Vegas in 1945 and saw great
opportunity in the city. He was soon chartering passengers from
LA to and from Las Vegas.

Building His Empire

The charter business was successful and two years later, he
bought Los Angeles Air Service for $60,000 with money earned
from the business and gambling in Vegas. It consisted of just
three pilots and planes, but he grew the company over time. He
later renamed it Trans International Airlines and added more
planes to the fleet.

Kirk started dabbling in Las Vegas real estate in the 1950s
with the money earned from Trans International. His first
purchase was a $50,000 share in the Dunes Hotel in 1955. He lost
the investment and resolved that from that point on, that he would
run his own show.

In 1962, Kerkorian bought an 80 acre piece of land across the
Strip from the Flamingo for $960,000. Caesars Palace would later
rent and then purchase this land from Kerkorian, which netted
him $9,000,000.

In 1967, Kerkorian bought 82 acres of land on Paradise Road
for $5,000,000. He had an architect draw up plans and build the
International Hotel. At the time, it was the largest hotel in
the world. It was also considered the first mega-resort in Las
Vegas. This may not sound like a major distinction today, but
his mega resort impacted the industry forever. Las Vegas would
eventually become a complete destination rather than a place to
just gamble.

All through this time, he continued to run his successful
airline which served tourists, high rollers, and celebrities to and
from Vegas. He finally sold the airline to the Transamerica
Corporation in 1968 and earned $104 million. The sale of the
airline gave him the cash he needed to become a serious player
in the Las Vegas gambling industry.

Kerkorian eventually bought the Flamingo Hotel and later sold
it to Hilton for an undisclosed sum. His next big move was to
purchase MGM studios in 1969. He then had the MGM Grand Hotel
and Casino built, which at the time was the largest hotel in the
world. Then, disaster struck.

On November 21st, 1980, a fire broke out at the MGM Grand and
85 people were killed. There were more than 5,000 people in the
hotel at the time, and 1,000 of those had to be rescued from the
rooftop via a massive helicopter rescue operation.

The
hotel was repaired and rebranded as the "new" MGM Grand Hotel
and Casino. Kerkorian sold the MGM to Bally Manufacturing in
1986 for nearly $600 million. It continues operation to this day
as Bally's Las Vegas.

In 1993, Kerkorian's MGM built and opened a second (or third,
depending on how you look at it) MGM Grand. This made for the
third time in which Kirk Kerkorian had built the largest hotel
in the world. MGM Grand holds that title to this day.

Kirk Kerkorian has remained active in business, dabbling in
the ownership of movie studios, automobile manufacturers, and
gambling companies. He continues to buy, sell, and trade
interests in major companies to this day.

Charity

Kirk founded the Lincy Foundation in 1989 in response to a
devastating earthquake that rocked Armenia and killed 25,000
people. His foundation helped rebuild the affected cities and
has since distributed more than $200 million to various causes
throughout Armenia.

The foundation has helped build infrastructure in Armenia
including highways, bridges, and new apartment buildings in areas
that were hit especially hard by the earthquake. He also donated
$200 million to UCLA's medical school in 2002. In 2005, the
president of Armenia awarded Kerkorian with the "Medal of
Fatherland" and titled him as a national hero: the country's
highest honor.

Private Life and Personal Fortune

Kirk Kerkorian maintains a very private personal life. He
rarely appears in public or gives interviews. He has been
married 3 times and has two daughters: Tracy and Lincy. His
Lincy Foundation was named after a combination of his daughters'
names.

At one point, Kerkorian had a personal fortune with upwards
of $16 billion. The 2008 recession hit him hard, and his wealth
has since dwindled to roughly $4 billion.

Reports of Kerkorian Being Held Hostage

In 2013, Kerkorian's ex-wife Lisa Bonder Kerkorian claimed
that the aging Kirk Kerkorian was being held "hostage" by his
legal advisors at the Tracinda Corporation. She claimed that he
had been missing for 5 months and needed to be saved.

It's unclear what happened after this point, but the Tracinda
Corporation released a statement saying that the allegations
were completely false. Speculation was that his ex-wife was
merely looking for a piece of the Kerkorian fortune. After all,
this wasn't the first public dispute between Kerkorian and his
ex.

In 1999, the two split after a short 28-day marriage. His
ex-wife claimed that Kerkorian was the father of her daughter
Kira. Lisa Bonder fought to have a court-appointed conservator
manage Kerkorian's finances to ensure Kira's continued access to
Kerkorian's wealth.

In response, Kerkorian hired a private investigator who was
able to obtain a piece of dental floss from the trash outside
Lisa's ex-boyfriend's house. A DNA analysis revealed that Kira
actually was the daughter of her ex-boyfriend and NOT of
Kerkorian.